Hurricane Season on its way!!! Need back up plan!!

[crzyfshygy]

I want to buy a back up powersupply that has some 3 prong outlets attatched to it GFCI and surge protected. Something I can recharge and run my powerheads on it or even my lights. Anyone ever heard of something like this. If it last for like 72 hours that would be awesome......ever heard of it????

 

[27mtaylor]

What about a couple of battery back ups like used for computers. I don't know how long they would last, but you figure a power head doesn't use too much electricity. Or you could always get a deep cycle battery and a power inverter.

 

[crzyfshygy]

Originally Posted by 27mtaylor
What about a couple of battery back ups like used for computers. I don't know how long they would last, but you figure a power head doesn't use too much electricity. Or you could always get a deep cycle battery and a power inverter.
What is a deep cycle battery????

 

[27mtaylor]

Its like a car battery, but made for marine applications. They handle the drain /charge a lot better than a car battery. People use them to power things like their trolling motors on boats. When the battery gets low you simply attach a charger to it, and charge it. You would have to get a charger separately. You can get them (battery and charger) at wal-mart or anywhere like that. You should be able to pick up a power inverter there too.

 

[iiinadav]

Here is some info I found on a website recently:
Hooking up a backup system like the one I'm using is fairly easy. It consists of two parts, an Inverter and a battery. For the inverter, I chose an Inverter/charger. By using an inverter/changer, the unit works just like a UPS when the power is cut, automatically switching over to battery. When power returns, the unit switches back to utility power and charges the battery for the next use. The unit I'm using is an APS512 from Tripplite. The unit can power up to 500 watts of equipment. For the battery, I am using a Marine, Deep Cell (sometimes called Deep Cycle) battery, it's rated at 95AH (Amp Hours). The battery was picked up from a local marine store, but you can buy them online if you do not have a boat store in your area. The combination of the two runs my Sequence 6000 pump (300 watts) for 2 1/2 hours. So far it has worked flawlessly anytime I have had a power outage, including the East coast blackout of August 14th, 2003. The only consideration you need to look into, is if you pump can take a modified sine wave for it power source. Best to call the pump manufacturer to be sure. My sequence does, as do most pumps, but you want to make sure the modified sine wave doesn't harm the pump.

 

[azocean709]

i was gonna go with all that battery hook up stuff....i said the heck with it and bought a generator. now i can run everything in the tank, my fridge, freezer, tv...blah blah blah...I would like to come up with some kind of battery operated system to come on automatically say if the power went out while i was at work. I don't have to worry about my tank flooding all over the floor, but would like to have it .

 

[dexter]

Ahhhh, the dreaded summertime in Florida! Hurricane season is rapidly approaching and with the "experts" predicting, I believe, 17 named storms (remember last year they predicted 15 ha ha ha :hilarious ) we all better make sure our families are safe as well as our tanks.

The best advise I can give after going through Ivan, Dennis, Katrina and others i can't remember their names, last year is one simple word - GENERATOR. We were with out power for a week after Katrina and the $700 generator I purchased from Lowes (550watt if i recall) ran my tank, tv, fridge, 3 fans, couple lamps and the microwave.
If you can get one, do so. If you apartment/condo will not allow, then battery back ups are highly recommended. First and foremost, and all of us know this, but if you are in the path, get out of town. You fish will survive when they are swimming in the storm surge back out to sea!

j/k
Dxtr

 

[chipmaker]

BAttery back up would be perfect in perfect world when you knew the power would only be out for a specific amount of time, unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world. A battery backup if used past its rated use would be useless if it can not be recharged.......I would seriously consider a generator. YOU can get small ones relatively cheap. All the battieries in the world is not gonna do anyone any good if they get discharged and there is no power to recharge them. At least with a gen set you can get a couple of gal of gas beforehand when the notice goes out of a potential hurricane and be somewhat better prepared for long term outages. Even with a small gen set it does not need to run 24/7 for the fish etc, and can serve double duty in powering up a hot plate etc for your own use as well......Go generator.